Review: Devilskin – Be Like The River

After the mammoth success of their debut album, Devilskin are back and ready to kick some more ass with their second: Be Like The River. The New Zealand-based quartet are fresh off their European tour and have laid down some of the heaviest rock tracks to ever come out of Australasia.

Definitely the first thing that should tell you that this is an album you should be listening to is the fact that its cover is one your mum would definitely disprove of. If you manage to get past the cover, you’ll be more than happy with the hard rock goodness inside. The band manage to truly encompass what it means to be metal; songs about fighting corporations (“FYI”), drinking (“Limbs”), and taking back control (“We Rise”); epic, orchestral tracks (“Animal”), and of course, sweeping solos, hard bass riffs, blaring drums, and a fierce singer.

Be Like The River demands to be listened to, with a powerful continuing message playing throughout the album of standing up for yourself and fellow man against an unseen foe, be that menacing global corporations, or or just those who try to stop you from being you.

There’s a great deal of variety within Be Like The River, with songs like “Voices” and “Animals” taking it slow, carried by a hard rock sound, while singer Jennie Skulander shows off her melodic range. These songs have long, impressive guitar solos, courtesy of guitarist Nail, as the track reach their climax, building up to a powerful finale.

In contrast though, tracks like “House 13” and “Grave” bring the heaviness, with sludgy riffs from bassist Paul Martin, and Skulander’s melodic singing replaced with a growling, hard voice. The diversity of Devilskin is put on show for all to hear with Be Like The River, and the band will surely be well on their way to replicating the success of debut album We Rise and achieving Number 1 Album in New Zealand once again.

Be Like The River is out now from Amazon (these links support our site): [amazon text=download&asin=B01M0FHZLX] / [amazon text=download (deluxe edition)&asin=B01M0R732R] / [amazon text=CD (deluxe)&asin=B01LY2X1RV] / [amazon text=digipak&asin=B01M09OQSF] / [amazon text=vinyl&asin=B01LX0H9H4]; and directly from the band’s website.